Is a DVD decoder card necessary for the Toshiba SD-M1502?

[MaxDSP]

I am thinking about buying the Toshiba SD-M1502 . Do I really need another card? I have a RivaTNT right now on a 1 GHz Athlon Slot A, SOYO K7VIA, 256MB PC133, Phillips 8x4x32 CDRW (only internal media drive I have) and an external Zip250 USB. How much would one of these cards cost? Oh yea, I'm running Win98 but am gonna upgrade to Win2K within a couple weeks or a month.

 

[Wingznut]

No, you don't need another card, but you do need DVD decoder software, such as WinDVD or PowerDVD. The OEM drive will not come with any software. The retail boxed drive will come with some DVD software, probably one of the above mentioned.

 

[WHipLAsh13]

Hardware decoders really aren't necessary with todays CPU speeds. They were made for old pc's so the cpu didn't have to handle the decoding. I run a DVD without hardware decoding and never a hiccup or skip.

 

[Noriaki]

Check the General hardware section of the Forum FAQ. DVD Decoder hardware vs software topic is covered there. Also browse the rest of the FAQ, lots of questions answered there.

 

[MaxDSP]

Thanks a lot guys. Will check into your links and suggestions.